The end of the weekend?

In a slew of Friday emails to our lovely contributors, I signed off with ‘Have a great weekend.’ I have since realised it’s a bit of a silly thing to say to a soloist.

It assumes weekends are a fact of their life. It presupposes they’ve spent Monday to Friday working hard and will reward themselves with time out on Saturday and Sunday.

This may be the case for many, but surely not for all.

My preference, for instance, is to work on evenings, weekends and public holidays. This isn’t just because I like swimming against the tide, it’s because there are fewer work related distractions at these times. It’s when concentration, the Editor’s friend, is at its best.

The flexibility to work when you like is one of soloism’s greatest joys. When we take over the world, perhaps weekends will become a thing of the past. How can you have a weekend if there are no weeks to end?

I admit this sounds far fetched, even to me. As Amy grows up, for example, school holidays are likely to anchor me to more conventional hours.

In fact my wafty “What day is it?” attitude has already taken a hit as a parent. Babies like routines, even if I don’t, and as a result I’m wearing a watch for the first time in a decade.

Part of me shudders at the thought of falling into line, yet I know structure can be satisfying. In Proper Job days, Friday night beers tasted great after a hard week’s graft. Then again, Sunday night blues were part of the same reality.

Is a traditional structure your friend or are you a fellow freeformer? Perhaps you don’t think of what you do as work, thus making the boundaries even blurrier. But that’s another newsletter.

Share your thoughts and read what others have to say below.

Until next time,

Love your work.

Sam Leader is a director of Flying Solo and its editor. She is the co-author of Flying Solo - How to go it alone in business.

30 comments | Add your own 1 2 3 4 5 | Next» View all»

As I write this at 6.13am I'd have to agree! - I find an early start means I'm well organised and have completed lots of work before the phone starts ringing at 9am. I also find that by the end of Friday I'm less motivated and want to stop just a little earlier in the day say 3 or 4pm. I aim to not work on weekends and by having that time off, I'm actually looking forward to getting up early Monday to get stuck into it again. You've certainly got to work to your strengths. Clint Paton from Sydney
I do usually work from around 8.30 when the kids and wife go to work and finish up when the work is done. If there is lots of work, I hardly ever work past 5pm so that I can have the evenings with my family. Weekends are the same - family time only. I guess working same hours as everyone else means they can get hold of me and means I am working when my family is not with me so that I can spend time with them on their return. I don't hesitate to take a day off if I need to though. Anthony Dohrman from Gisborne, New Zealand
Ah the joy of working in ""what used to be your free time"......as an events manager a lot of my hours are worked when everyone else is enjoying what they call their "free time"......is this because they feel "trapped" in their current work situation.....???
On the flipside, I am constantly bombarded by everyone saying when do you get Jodie time.....and you are going to burn out if you don't set yourself some "proper" business hours.......I guess they just don't get it....... Jodie Kennedy from North Queensland
I find that I use my weekend time to travel in preparation for the following day. As I do quite a lot of international travel, I feel you need to get as much as you can out of your week. For example, I'd fly to NZ on the Sunday so I can get in a full 5 days and then fly out on the Saturday. This way I'm not worrying about flight times and trying to cut meetings short in order not to miss a flight.
Also I find late nights useful when the family is asleep and I don't have any distractions. The main thing is to not lose time. As we have the flexibilty to adjust our working hours, we also need to keep on top of things. So if I take some time out during the day, I'll try to make it up at night or on weekends. It's one thing to be flexible but it's another to fall behind... Jason Kennedy from Cranebrook, NSW Australia
I whole heartedly agree. I get to Friday afternoon, scramble to the 5pm cut off time, and then release a sigh of relief, walk away from the computer and feel the weight of the week lift from my shoulders. I have taught myself to forget about work for the next 48 hours where I then log on, organise the week and wake up on Monday feeling fresh to start again.
Unfortunately for soloists, who don't have a secretary, PA or team of doers, nights, weekends and public holidays are the only time where the phone doesn't ring and the emails aren't flooding in demanding to be attended to by you and you only. But to maintain a harmonic family life you need to do this sparingly and wisely, kids grow up before your eyes, especially whilst their glued to the inbox. Kiralie from Helensburgh
On weekends I get to choose what projects I work on while mid week the decisions are pretty much client or staff driven. This means I can tidy up the loose ends (and the office) collect income by internet, pay bills, take old toners & inks etc to the bins and generally do the things I feel like doing. Just going with the natural energy flow in little sessions or a few hours stretch at a time works for me! I am very lucky that many of my clients are also good friends so Saturday or Sunday morning brekkies at great cafe's are a fun way for us to make decisions and get things done.
After hours & weekend work sessions are good for the soul and take away some of the mid - week pressure too! Pamela from Cairns, Qld

30 comments | Add your own 1 2 3 4 5 | Next» View all»

Add Your comments

Preview comment

Name

Website *

Town / city and country

Email (never sold, displayed or given away)

* This will link your name to your site. So please avoid self promotion elsewhere! We delete spam, disrespectful or off-topic comments.